It's reportedly going to be a two-and-a-half hour journey that chronicles the ups and downs of their tumultuous relationship over the years and features many of their biggest songs. Suffice it to say, it's probably going to be one of the biggest concerts of the year in the Valley.
But if Jayoncé ain’t your bag, there are several other notable shows happening this week, including gigs by Ryley Walker, Suicidal Tendencies, Selwyn Birchwood, Chris Robinson Brotherhood, and Carbon Leaf. Trombone Shorty will also bring a host of New Orleans-born acts to town as a part of the Voodoo Threauxdown tour, which also hits the Valley on Wednesday.
Details about each of these shows can be found below. And for even more live music happening around the Valley this weekend, hit up Phoenix New Times' online concert calendar.
Carbon Leaf
Monday, September 17
Musical Instrument Museum
After almost two decades together, Carbon Leaf has effectively created their own brand of accessible bluegrass. But the Virginia natives can't be pinned to a single genre – the band have an ostensible pop side, one that best translates live through Carbon Leaf's varying stringed instrumentation.
Albums such as 2011’s Live, Acoustic... And In Cinemascope! perfectly captures the group's on-stage cohesiveness, while showcasing Barry Privett's sunny vocals as he leads Carbon Leaf fans through a look back at the band's long and steady career. You can partake in a similar experience when Carbon Leaf take to the stage at the Musical Instrument Museum in-house theater on Monday night. The show starts at 7 p.m. and tickets are $38.50-$43.50. Bree Davies
Ryley Walker
Tuesday, September 18
Valley Bar
The Chicago-based songwriter and guitar virtuoso Ryley Walker
Chris Robinson Brotherhood
Tuesday, September 18
Marquee Theatre in Tempe
It’s been more than five years since the Black Crowes, the acclaimed blues-rock band featuring brothers Chris and Rich Robinson, embarked on their final tour. Since then, Chris has focused all his time and energy on another project, the Chris Robinson Brotherhood.
It’s always seemed a little ironic that he gave the name “Brotherhood” to a band that he plays in without his brother, but maybe that’s the point. CRB (as the band is known) put out their fifth full-length studio album, Barefoot in the Head, in 2017, and the band (completed by guitarist Neal Casal, keyboardist Adam MacDougall, bassist Mark Dutton, and drummer Tony Leone) has spent a huge amount of time on the road. While we would love to see a Black Crowes reunion, the Robinson brothers have never felt inclined to do things the easy way. Tom Murphy
Suicidal Tendencies
Tuesday, September 18
The Pressroom
The early 1980s were a good time to be in a hardcore punk band. Music and reputation spread through underground circles, and if you added a little controversy — maybe some supposed gang affiliation — your band could go national quickly. This is how it worked for Venice Beach's Suicidal Tendencies. With a controversial name, speculative gang ties, and often violent fans, the band founded by vocalist Mike Muir — the only original member remaining — went from being voted "Worst Band/Biggest Assholes" in punk fanzine Flipside one year to "Best New Band" the following. Though recording was spotty, at best, Suicidal Tendencies did record
Muir eventually embraced thrash metal — angering punk's purists. His association with future Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo helped the band find their calling with a pair of stellar albums: Controlled by Hatred and Lights ... Cameras ... Revolution! Trujillo's funky side also spawned side project Infectious Grooves. Since their mid-'90s heyday, the band featured a rotating cast of musicians (most notably, funk/soul bassist wunderkind Thundercat) and has released a handful of new albums in the last five year, including 13 in 2013 and World Gone Mad, both of which were well-received by fans and critics alike. They’ve dropped two new albums just this year, Still Cyco Punk After All These Years and Get Your Fight On!, proving Suicidal Tendencies still has plenty of
Beyoncé and Jay-Z
Wednesday, September 19
State Farm Stadium (formerly University of Phoenix Stadium)
Girls and gays, you already know what the fuck this is all about. It’s Yoncé. The biggest star in the world. The KWEEN. She’s gracing us with our presence for one night only. And she brought her man along! We forget his name, we think it starts with a J? We don’t know what he does, we think he’s some kind of hedge-fund guy? He talks about money a lot, like that one time where he said, “I’m not a businessman, I’m a business, man.” Okay
Wait a minute. We’ve been told that this guy is actually also famous, that he’s some sort of “rap” maker? We’ve also been told that the two of them, together, released an album earlier this year? It was called Everything is Love? That they made a song called “Apeshit” and filmed the video in the damn Louvre? The one in Paris? As in they rented it out because they’re rich as fuck, and now the damn Louvre is holding Beyoncé tours? This is news to us, honestly, this is just an unbearable oversight, how could we ... oh, it was a Tidal exclusive! Cool! Douglas Markowitz
Selwyn Birchwood
Wednesday, September 19
The Rhythm Room
As the blues has declined in popular appeal over the past half-century or so, its most devoted fans have developed an infrastructure of festivals, patrons, venues and competitions fully capable of supporting younger blues artists; the rise of Texas guitar-slinger Gary Clark Jr. is just one example. Over in central Florida, a similar story has been playing out in the career of Selwyn Birchwood, a 33-year-old guitarist
Birchwood’s band won the Blues Foundation’s 2013 International Blues Challenge and graduated to a deal with Alligator Records, perhaps the leading co-signer of all things quality in modern blues. His second album with the label, last year’s Pick Your Poison, contrasts scorching slide-guitar runs with sultry jazz flute and back-roads country blues with
Voodoo Threauxdown Tour
Wednesday, September 19
Comerica Theatre
Troy Andrews, better known as Trombone Shorty, is quintessentially New Orleans. He was born and raised in the Big Easy, specifically in the Tremé neighborhood, and made his bones as a musician in his native city starting at the age of 4, when he jammed onstage with Bo Diddley. Andrews has been part of the vibrant musical tapestry of N'awlins for going on three decades,
In other words, he’s the perfect cat to lead the parade of NOLA-born bands and ensembles that comprise the Voodoo Threauxdown tour. Described as “
The Australian Pink Floyd Show
Wednesday, September 19
Mesa Arts Center
While they are technically a "tribute band," there is nothing amateur, half-assed, or untrue to the source about the Australian Pink Floyd Show. In fact, these down under wonders put on such an eerily accurate PF experience, they were asked by none other than David Gilmour himself to play his 50th birthday party – though they probably went light on the Roger Waters tunes that evening. Expect to hear all of Pink Floyd’s greatest hits, including "The Great Gig in the Sky," "Wish You Were Here," "One of These Days," "Comfortably Numb," and (you guessed it) "Another Brick in the Wall." Shine on, you crazy diamonds. Bob Ruggiero
Chris Webby
Wednesday, September 19
Club Red in Mesa
Chris Webby has "203" inked across his right side, a gothic "Connecticut" burned into the skin beneath his neck. There are the scattered images of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Mario Brothers,
Tower of Power
Wednesday, September 19, and Thursday, September 20
Musical Instrument Museum
Now in its 50th year, this Oakland-born R&B group has become an institution. With a huge horn section and deep grooves, the Tower of Power sound is one of the most recognizable around. In their stage shows, they segue easily from funk to smooth jazz to blue-eyed soul. This ability to cross genres has brought them innumerable recording opportunities with widely diverse artists; few ensembles can claim to have recorded with Lyle Lovett and Aerosmith, but that's hardly a stretch for these men in black. Like their most famous single, these virtuosos seem to always know “What Is Hip,” and they keep refining it. William Michael Smith